Looking at a problem vs. Thinking about it

Looking at a problem vs. Thinking about it

I’ve recently been inspired by Jan Frazier’s book ‘When Fear Falls Away’. It is the author’s day-by-day account of the shift in consciousness and its impact on her life.

I’d like to mention the way Frazier speaks of looking at a problem and being with it vs thinking about it or analysing it. She describes an act of deep looking, pure attention to whatever may matter to us or require some action. The process of deep looking is focused on understanding and clarity rather than fixing and figuring out solutions. To be mindful is to sit in the presence of a challenging fact, it is to recognise the fact of the thing and allow the clarity to see the right course of action to happen.

Mindfulness teachers speak of surrender, of acceptance of the present moment. They do not mean to be a doormat. They mean just look and acknowledge the facts without avoiding, resisting, denying or arguing with what is. We can find peace in that simple act of looking and acknowledging. The fact of the thing includes our response to it. Therefore if it’s fear, surrender to the fact of being afraid in that moment. Mindfulness is about standing in the full reality of being afraid, angry or lonely without resistance or judgement.

We then have the opportunity to discover the fleeting nature of any experience whether it is delightful or painful.